Floccinaucinihilipilification

Floccinaucinihipilification

Bible: 1 Corinthians 2:1-9

Reading

When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I
proclaimed to you the testimony about God (V.1).

At school, one of my teachers told my class the longest word in the English language: floccinaucinihilipilification. It’s twenty-nine letters long! We didn’t know what it meant or how to use it, but it sounded clever to be able to say and spell it. I looked the word up recently; apparently it’s the “action or habit of estimating something as worthless”. When Paul told people about Jesus, he didn’t try to impress them with
fancy words. In his letter to the Corinthians, he wrote: “When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God” (1 CORINTHIANS 2:1).

“Eloquence” is the translation of Greek words meaning “high sounding words” or “puffed-up speech”. It’s all about trying to make yourself sound clever and letting people know how smart you are. Paul was a brilliant teacher who talked about God and the Bible a lot. But the point was that he pointed people to his God, not himself. As we grow in our understanding of the Bible, let’s follow Paul’s example and be careful not to show off with what we know. Let’s talk about God in a way that directs people to Him, rather than to me.

IT’S NOT THE WORDS WE KNOW THAT SHOW GOD,

BUT HOW AND WHEN WE USE THEM.

Youth Edition – Our Daily Bread Ministries